>> cenk: all right, i want to thank everybody michael from "the war room." trisha rose from brown university. we're down. "viewpoint" is next. >> john: good evening, i'm john fuglesang. this is "viewpoint." the senate today moved toward a key item on its 2013 agenda a bill allowing the states to collect taxes on online sales. as for the gun debate, after wednesday's vote on having a vote on measures to expand background checks for gun buyers, ban assault weapon sales and limit the size of ammo clips all went down to defeat, majority leader harry reid said it was time to take a pause on the issue. >> president obama said it was a shameful day for the senate. and it probably was. i agree. we should make no mistake. this debate is not over.

in fact, this fight is just beginning. >> john: one of the first broadsides came from one of the most prominent gun violence victims in recent years. former representative gabby giffords published a blistering editorial in "the new york times" where she called out the senate gun bills' opponents as cowards and i quote... and where the courage issue was concerned, one of the background checks bills' sponsors, west virginia senator, joe manchin, clearly seemed to agree. >> things don't go right in any election i get to go home. i get to go home to my family, my children, my grandchildren. i can't figure out when the

facts are right in front of you to do what you need to do. >> john: families of the sandy hook shooting victims lobbied congress with the support of the white house. including the school-age siblings of 7-year-old daniel barden who died at sandy hook. >> i feel that we owe it to daniel because his life needs to mean something. >> he was just so thoughtful and he thought about everybody. he was always happy. >> john: kentucky senator rand paul who voted against the gun bills said wednesday he thought the families were being used. >> i know they're coming voluntarily. they want to come and be a part of this debate. i think that, in some cases the president has used them as props and that disappoints me. >> john: he said that. however, daniel barden's mother disagreed. >> when people say they're being used -- say we're being used, we don't understand it because it

is just -- we don't want families to go through what we are going through. >> john: for more, i'm joined by a leader on this issue representative rosa delauro a member of the house progressive caucus. congresswoman, what a pleasure to have you this evening. >> thank you very much john. >> john: thank you. were you surprised by yesterday's votes? did you think an expanded background check had a chance to pass the senate? >> i thought with the coming together of joe manchin and senator toomey that they brought this perspective together that would move us forward. but let's just face it. this is a disgrace. it will have a disgrace. that people who come here could not represent the interests of the folks that they represent. >> john: indeed, i was curious about your thoughts today saying

senators gave into fear. what about the pundits who suggest that democratic senators who also voted against the measures were correct if that's what it took to keep a democratic majority in 2014. >> no, i believe that people -- there are issues of conscience that we vote on whether you're in the house or the senate. there are some issues -- we're not talking about a road or a bridge or a park. we are talking about saving lives. and there was an opportunity by everyone's measure and including 90% of the american people who said let's move on this issue. of background checks. because it can save lives. in which case, this is a matter of conscience. it is not about your election or your re-election. this is about saving people's lives. and gabby giffords' case was so powerful because can you imagine the fear of those youngsters? the fear of victoria soto who is

my constituent, who tried to protect those youngsters and who lost her life. that's fear. it is not about the sanctity of the second amendment. it is about the sanctity of the second graders who lost their lives. >> john: you write about bills you would like to see passed include gun violence including universal background checks, high-capacity clips. i want to ask, do you think your other measures requiring child safety locks with every gun sale, more funding for gun buybacks and an end to restrictions on gun research, do you think they could pass? >> well, i really -- i listened to the words of senator reid ander really, the president was absolutely right yesterday. and talking about this, it is shameful. but i've come to believe that we

are now stopped at the federal level from doing anything on preventing gun violence. i think it is going to have to happen at the state level. i'm so proud of my state of connecticut because it was democrats and republicans who came together, who realized that they have to do the right thing. by not just the families in newtown but aurora and virginia tech and other places and the youngsters who every day are dying on our nation's streets. that they put their politics aside and they said we have to do something and they did and they passed one of the strongest pieces of gun legislation in the nation. i'm so fearful that we are stymied at the federal level. it is not going to happen here, you know. in the short term and maybe even the long-term. if we could not get people to act on where there was 90% approval on this effort, you've

said where i'm at. i want to ban the assault weapons. i want to ban the high-capacity clips. but this is about -- it is almost a no-brainer. we don't get 90% approval on almost any issue that we deal with. to be so -- to think only selfishly about your self-and to look at those families in newtown who are courageous! they came to beg that, please do something so that our children didn't i don't in vain. and the senate yesterday said to them sorry you're on your own. >> john: well, not all the senate, thank goodness, ma'am. there are plenty of good democrats and some good republicans still fighting for the will of 90% of the american population. before we go, i want to ask you quickly, have you spoken with any of the sandy hook families after yesterday's vote? >> no, i haven't. >> john: well, i hope that --

really quickly, what did you think of senator paul's comments that the families were being used as props by this president. >> let me tell you who is using the united states senate and those who didn't vote. you're right. lots of well-meaning people yesterday voted their conscience and voted the right way. but the nra uses the senate and they threaten individuals. and people succumb to those threats. the good people of sandy hook didn't do any threatening of people. they pleaded for the help for themselves and in memory of their children and they pleaded for help for the rest of the country. it is the nra who threatened people with a primary or with their election results. they are the people who are abusing the process and unfortunately, there were those who listened to them yesterday and said no, no!

you are not going to use me. i am going to do the right thing by people in the united states of america. and i'm going to do the right thing by our children in protecting their lives. that's the job i was sent here to do. that's what the people of my community are asking me to do. that's what i believe in my heart and in my conscience is the right direction. >> john: connecticut democratic representative rosa delauro, there may be 45 nra props in the senate but i thank you for your time and for your service on this issue. >> thank you. >> john: for what may be next in the battle to pass meaningful legislation to curb gun violence, i'm joined by someone who will likely play a major role in that effort, mark glaze director of mayors against illegal guns. great to you have here. >> thanks for having me. >> john: the gun lobby has declared victory this year and they say that this is the end of the gun issue, at least where the 113th congress is

concerned. how do you feel about that? >> i don't think so. they do that whenever they win a victory or lose but want to claim a victory. round one went to them. there were five senators who failed to get us to 60 and by the way, if you do the math, that's 55 senators which is more than half which is more than half but that's not the way our democrat works. you have to get to 60. we'll get there and i think we'll do it this year. >> john: the republicans led the charge, true, against any kind of reform but the democrats supplied the necessary votes to keep them going forward to say nothing of a lack of filibuster reform that allowed the vote to not have a vote to happen. will your group look to attack members from both parties for their votes? >> yeah, absolutely. we're equal opportunity offenders when it comes to holding people accountable for the votes they take in congress. the reality is more difficult because in 2014, there's not a single republican senator who is vulnerable. it should change for plenty of them based on the vote yesterday. many of the democrats who voted the wrong way from our

perspective are quite vulnerable and why they would think voting against what 90% of the people in the country want, including 94% in north dakota. 79% in montana and 84% in arkansas is beyond me. >> john: especially when they're not running for re-election, not mentioning any names, heidi. you mention this could still be fought and progress can be made this year. how can that be done? >> we have to get five more votes. what we have to do today tomorrow and monday, not leaving out the weekend if we're smart about it is tap into the unbelievable outrage. you look at facebook, twitter feeds, if you read the nation's editorial pages people are really furious that, you know, we live in a country where our politics is so fundamentally broken that 55 senators aren't enough to get us to a policy that we know works we know saves a lot of lives. we know does no damage to the second amendment. we know 74% of nra members approve of. four months after 20 kids were

murdered against a wall in a small school in connecticut. very strange country. if you can't over time, put enough pressure on those people to decide something different. >> john: our foreign friends are scratching their heads at us right now. the president spoke movingly yesterday. do you feel he and the democratic party move fast enough? was there more that barack obama could have done? >> it is hard to say. you just took the united states congress 500 days and even more than to re-authorize the violence against women act. something that already existed. something that is about as uncontroversial because it is about helping women against violence. congress doesn't move very fast. if you introduced a bill ten days after the shooting, could you have passed it? maybe. but why speculate about something that's practically impossible in washington. >> john: you were quoted today as saying mayors and supporters of survivors and outraged citizens will be letting senators know they're paying attention and memories are long. i love the quote.

but in the past, isn't it true that the memory of americans has been rather short when it comes to gun violence. >> you know, for the past generation, there has not been much going on on our side of this issue. the nra is not all it's cracked up to be. there is a lot of p.r. going on but they have four million grassroots supporters and many are single issue voters. they deal with guns every day they hunt with guns and defend themselves with guns and my dad was a gun dealer. i know it is a lot of fun to shoot guns. on our side, it is a less of a culture or lifestyle issue. we sort of care when something bad happens. but i think the difference is that traditional intensity gap has been wiped away by this rapidly escalating series of increasingly terrible mass shootings in the two years i've had this job, we had tucson, aurora newtown and tens of thousands of other people murdered in two years. people have reached a breaking point. they want to see something done. >> john: you said something pivotal there. you think the intensity gap has been wiped out. the amount of hate i get from

guys on twitter who don't understand what a well-regulated militia means is astonishing. do you think the gun-safety regulation posse has the same intensity and is ready to bring the fight to this tiny minority that seemingly controls the rest of us? >> there is intensity and then there's intensity. i think on our side, we don't really have the people who show up at congressman's town hall meetings and a gun falls out of their waistbands. but i think enough people, including mothers who like the idea of being able to send their kids to school in the morning and be confident they'll come home at night recognize we've reached a point where you got a good president and a good vice president who want to do this. you got 90% of the public with you. you have a lot of survivors and parents of kids who were just murdered, very committed to not having other parents live through that. if you can't do it now, you can never do it. >> john: how can people find out more about your work? >> demandaction.org. just go to the site and find out how your senators voted. find their phone numbers and

e-mail address. the only way we'll change this is if people get off the couch not until your show is over -- >> john: of course. >> get off the couch and go to a protest. go to a meeting. call your senator. you gotta let people know how you feel or nothing changes. >> john: mark glaze director of mayors against illegal guns. many thanks to you for your expertise on "viewpoint." keep it up. america's long overdue conversation about guantanamo. a lawyer for 11 detainees joins me next on "viewpoint." (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> john: big news out of boston. today, the fbi released photographs and video of two men they classified as suspects in the boston marathon bombing. special agent richard des lauriers classed the man in the black hat as suspect one and the fella in the white hat as suspect two. they were seen in multiple shots together, walking through the crowd and suspect two was spotted dropping his bag at the second bomb site before it went off. the fbi is asking the public for any help identifying these two individuals and warned, of course, they are to be considered arm and dangerous. as this investigation continues to move on, the people of boston attempted to do the same. holding an interfaith service attend by president obama this morning. now, the mood there started out as somber but the service became a rally for all of america to combat the bombings with strength and fidelity. ♪ i went up to the mountain ♪

>> good morning. it is a good morning. because we are together. we are one boston. >> the dilemma of evil is that even as it carries -- >> and nothing taken will be forgotten or lost in vain. >> bombs of terrorism may kill and injure but they cannot crush the american spirit. >> darkness cannot drive out darkness. as dr. king said. only light can do that. the -- this tragedy exposed is the best of who we are. >> obama: i'm here today on behalf of the american people with a simple message. every one of us has been touched

by this attack on your beloved city. every one of us stands with you. intimidate us, terrorize us, to shake us from those values that -- the values that make us who we are as americans. it should be pretty clear by now that they picked the wrong city to do it. like bill, 78 years old the runner in the orange tank top who we all saw get knocked down by the blast we may be momentarily knocked off our feet. but we'll pick ourselves up. we'll keep going. we will finish the race. we carry on. we race. we strive. we build and we work and we love and we raise our kids to do the

same and we come together to celebrate life and to walk our cities and to cheer for our teams when the sox and celtics and patriots or bruins are champion again to the chagrin of new york and chicago fans, the crowds will gather and watch a parade go down boylston street and this time next year, on the third monday in april the world will return to this great american city to run harder than ever and to cheer even louder for the 118th boston marathon. [ applause ] bet on it! >> what a way to start the day. (vo) followed by "talking liberally with stephanie miller" >> this is big for me. only on current tv.

>> john: when it comes to civil liberties guantanamo bay has been america's elephant in the room for more than a decade. and right now that elephant is charging into walls. a hunger strike has swept the detention center, prompted simply because guards keep searching prisoners korans for contraband. the results have included force-feeding and clashes between the military and detainees. at the same time, a task force that includes former bush official asa hutchinson and former fbi director william sessions just released a report on detainee treatment. and here are a few of their conclusions, prepare to not be even slightly surprised. u.s. forces in many instances used intear gaig techniques on detainees that constitute torture. again, a bipartisan report. there is no firm or persuasive evidence that widespread use of torture produces information of

value. the continued indefinite detention of many prisoners at guan -- guantanamo should be addressed. mr. warner, thank you so much for speaking with us tonight. >> john, thank you for having me. >> john: like everybody who gets to hear this and i'm assuming a lot of news organizations won't cover this report. could this report help your clients? will it be influential enough to finally move something? >> well, in order for there to be movement, we need to have the president, that impassioned individual i heard in the last segment, stand up and tell the right and tell the american public we're going to free these innocent individuals the 86 men starving themselves to death right now in guantanamo. the report is helpful and we agree with all of the conclusions. 98% of the conclusions. the problem is the american public won't necessarily read the report.

and we need to have the average joe on the street understand who's in guantanamo. the report talks about look, these are not the worst of the worst. these are not terrorists. but that's what the average joe on the street believes. that's the guy they believe who is in guantanamo. it is just not true. it is an education but you know, the president could do this in a minute, if he wanted to. but his attention is elsewhere. it is tragic because these men are dying now. >> john: you mentioned 86 men. i want to clarify that number. 86 men in guantanamo who have been cleared for release but they're sitting in cames month after month. the men on hunger strikers are 52. there have been wildly differing estimates. >> the number is 130. the military plays games with the numbers. they say there's 15 people who are being fed through the nose. the bottom line is that it is not always the same 15. it is not always the same 52.

they, for example call somebody, hunger strike because they think they saw him eating trail mix. the military doesn't have any control in the prison now. actually, they have ultimate control but the men have control of their lives and their health. they've lost that control because they have no desire to be reasonable and to deal with people like me. but that's not the issue. the 86 -- they've been cleared for release. what that means is that unanimously, every intelligence agency in the united states has said not only -- these are nobodys. these are people that should be released immediately. they're the wrong person to begin with. not only that. but they're not a danger. so they might have picked up the wrong person and that person -- now they think is a dangerous because they're ticked off. they have been indefinitely detained for 11 years. but these not at risk, not at

danger the american public doesn't understand that and our president refuses to step forward and be a leader on this issue. it is really -- it pains me to say it as a public defender but it is really our president that has not only caused the hunger strike but it is his fault guantanamo remains open. it is difficult to say but it's true. >> john: let me take issue with that quickly. things in gitmo were going rather tranquilly until the new commanding officer came in, am i correct? >> correct. >> john: he decided to do the searches of the korans for contraband. the inmates have offered to surrender their korans just to not have them trifled with. >> this is what happened -- what happened last weekend was that they came in and they attacked the men. they took what they called the show camp, camp six they broke it down. i believe it was reported in the media, a five hour fight. the military hasn't allowed us to speak with our client yet. the information comes basically from the media. several sources that were down there this week that were trying

to assess the situation. and at that point, now the military says look, if they don't want to accept the koran we will make them take it. but look, they've gone way too far. the men have been striking for two months and now they've broken them all down to basically 24-hour solitary confinement, the entire camp. it is our hope that the men will stop striking because we want our clients to eat. but the truth of the matter is that likely, they push these men too far because new command just doesn't have any institutional continuity. they didn't know in 2007 that this was allowed when there were other hunger strikes. so i think they pushed the men too far. but i'm willing to -- that's the strike. and i'm going to work hard to get past the strike. what we need is for the president to stand up and say we're going to release these 86 individuals who are for all intents and purposes, innocent. and the report talks about it that you mentioned in the

beginning. there's no right-minded individual that thinks it makes sense that we hold innocent individuals in guantanamo. and that's what we're doing now because they're basically political pawns. the president will not step up to the plate for you know, 86 arabic men. >> john: assistant public defender, carlos warner who represents 11 of the guantanamo detainees, thank you for talk with us. i hope you'll come back on "viewpoint" again. >> i hope so. thank you for having me, john. >> john: thank you. joe walsh from salon joins me next to talk about the g.o.p. assault on the deal. it is coming up after the break.

>> john: yet's vote was called a shameful day in washington as lawmakers failed to pass the most common sense of gun legislation in the wake of the tragedy at newtown. the added shame is that we can't say we didn't really see it coming.

earlier this week, i had the chance to sit down with the brilliant joan walsh and we discussed just how challenging getting even popular gun control legislation passed can be. let's bring in the great joan walsh, editor at large for salon.com and author of "what's the matter with white people" which talks about the middle classes being divided and conquered. joan, welcome to "viewpoint." >> john: it is a pleasure to have you. you wrote a piece i was really taken aback by. in that this horrible tragedy we have seen in boston, one of the greatest risks is since america has a new most recent tragedy will this completely eclipse the important and fragile debate on gun safety? >> well, is there a danger there. there really is a danger there. it is so ironic and tragic that mile 26 was devoted to the 26 victims of newtown but the nra really counts on our memories being short. and you know, they've said we're going to outwait the connecticut

effect. so having a tragedy like this become the national tragedy because that's what happened, i think it does make it risky that people will be less intense about this. will be less focused on it. politicians can wiggle away. >> scattered accused of a tragedy. i thought they were going to prevent the next one. >> i wrote about this, the day of newtown jay carney came out. i generally's gree with him the president's press secretary and said this is no time to be talking about gun control and i wrote a piece then, this is the perfect time to be talking about gun control. it is never the right time. and i think you know, obviously boston had nothing to do with guns but it is so interesting to me that we will throw away civil liberties, we will sometimes seem as though we're willing to do anything to stop a really rare horrible attack but we

won't do what's required to stop these thousands of deaths every year due to gun violence. the nra has been so successful in basically fracturing us. >> john: indeed they have. you talk about the history of the entire democratic coalition being rather easily divided. could you outline that for us? >> if you really think about it the democratic coalition, the fdr coalition, was always an unlikely coalition because it included southern segregationists and african-americans so it was always from its beginning pulling apart at the seams. when democrats started to do the right thing around race, starting in the '40s even with hubert humphrey standing up for some kind of weak civil rights plank in the democratic platform and you have strom thurmond walk out and create the dixiecrats, starting then, it didn't start in the '60s, you had this tension where the party was starting to come apart. there is no way to deny the

impact of the moves we made on race in the '60s. johnson signed the voting rights act in august of '65. one week later los angeles erupted in riots. they were able to almost say doing too much, too soon, brought about this explosion rather than we did too little, too late for so many years letting those problems first. but the republicans became very, very smart about dividing us racially and also sort of saying government can't help. government tries to get involved it often does the wrong thing. that, i think that even haunts us with the guns. >> john: why is it so hard to work the other way? why didn't democrats divide and conquer the same? g.o.p. has three masters, the wall street trickle down guys, the conservative christians and the guys who really like tom clancy books. why is it so hard with christians and the moneylenders

to draw a wedge between them? >> i had this question during the last election. when i used the title "what's the matter with white people," one of its means was what's the matter with white people that even conservatives like charles murray, rik santorum are suddenly paying attention to the white working class falling apart and blaming the white working class for its troubles. it is that they're lazy. they're not getting married enough. they're having kids out of wedlock. what charles murray said about black people. i thought that you would see more of the white working class hear this and realize wow, those things they've said all of these years about black people, now they're saying them about us. they have no solutions. that didn't really happen in 2012. i think time is going to show -- their coalition cannot hold together. they are starting to make moves on immigration reform and that will push away the really

serious racists and zeno phobes so every move they make cracks their coalition a little more. i don't think we need to wait for that to happen. >> john: what i liked about the book was it is a political work but also deeply personal. i really admired the way you creatively wove this story this political story through the history of your own family. >> thank you for saying that. it was a hard book to write to know what the bounds should be. i feel like i watched my white irish catholic family fall apart around the issue somewhat of race, also of the war. and i wanted to really explore for my own purposes how that happened. as i did it and as i talked to people in my family, i felt like there were larger lessons for the country, not just my own psychological satisfaction. >> john: well, the book is "what's the party with white people," highly recommend it. i told you my mother-in-law stole my copy. joan walsh salon.com, thank you

for this book. thank you for your excellent web site and thank you for stopping by. >> thanks for having me. >> john: my thanks again to joan walsh. coming up, now that the fbi has actual suspects in the boston bombings, do we forget two days of laughably bad news coverage? i can think of one newspaper that hopes we would. like thousands of needles sticking in your foot. it was progressively getting worse, and at that point, i knew i had to do something. once i started taking the lyrica, the pain started subsiding. [ male announcer ] it's known that diabetes damages nerves. lyrica is fda approved to treat diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is not for everyone. it may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing rash, hives, blisters, changes in eye sight including blurry vision, muscle pain with fever tired feeling, or skin sores from diabetes. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of

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>> john: the attack continues to be led by the pseudojournalists at the "new york post" after their shameful blunder on monday where they reported 12 dead, nearly 50 injured, a headline they kept up for hours well into the evening after every other media outlet was reporting the death toll at 2, the post outdid themselves my friends with this morning's cover. a photograph of two men below the headline bag men and a subhead feds seek these two pictures at boston marathon. by the middle of the day today the post noted on their web site both men had been completely cleared of suspicion but didn't

note the one on the right in the blue jacket is actually a 17-year-old high school student and member of his school's track team. but the post has not been alone in their reporting. throughout the day yesterday cnn, fox news and our neighbors "the associated press," all presented unconfirmed stories as fact. for more on this, i'm joined by my panel of nonexperts, comedian of "i can barely take care of myself," the great jen kirkman forbes contributor the somewhat great rick ungar and current tv's own jacki schechner. jen, you are a regular on chelsea handler's show. we now how important it is to get the facts right for chelsea. should we be surprised the "new york post" was doing something unethical? >> i'm not surprised the "new york post" did that. if you've ever been a sixth grade girl, i know you haven't. >> john: i can dream.

>> we have vetted rumors better than the "new york post." susie said that melissa heard that she heard from annette who said this. we used to have that kind of stuff down so it is embarrassing for them. >> john: i don't want to say anything bad about the the "new york post" because i don't want murdoch hacking my phone. they were asking the public for help. they were quite clear to say these are the only photos that should be sent out by media sources to avoid something similar to what the "new york post" did to these two guys, putting people on the cover who were quite innocent. again, someone a 17-year-old high schooler. i can't think of a more irresponsible move by such a major publication. rick is this defensible in any way and does mr. murdoch even care? >> you picked a great word when you ask is it defensible because i think what the "new york post" is going to find, it is legally indefensible. there is a lot of great lawyers up in boston, i gotta tell you i hope the family of the 17-year-old, in particular, will be out shopping tomorrow. they have got a remarkable case

here. they truly did. >> john: pay for college. >> i don't know if you -- they actually defended what they did saying they never called them a suspect. despite the fact that on monday, they called the saudi national a suspect when he was in fact, a person of interest and was also -- >> john: a guy running away from an explosion while brown. >> one quick thing to my fellow new yorkers, please, do not ever again buy a "new york post." i really mean it. they lost $110 million last year. they're ready to go down the drain. they deserve to go down the drain. do not give them any money. >> john: it has been that way since the '80s. rupert murdoch is the only media mogul who made an entire continent feel badly for hugh grant. >> i love their horoscopes. >> there are other ones. >> john: several other news outlets jumped to the gun reporting a suspect had been arrested when it hadn't actually happened. cnn led the pack. fox news followed with arrest

made in boston marathon bombing. sources tell fox news.com. then "huff post" cited the same two as well as the "the boston globe" while noting nbc and cbs were not printed. jacki, you're a real newswoman. aren't there consequences to this kind of reporting? will anyone lose a job? >> there should be. but if you notice specifically on cnn what they did was they backtracked a little bit in terms of saying somebody must be confused somewhere along the way. they didn't take responsibility for making a mistake. and i'm the last person to defend cnn but part of me does wonder if they didn't get the information and then once the information was out they weren't correct and somehow the sources behind the scene is saying whoops, we shouldn't have leaked it. john king has been a reporter for a long time. he doesn't have anything to prove. there are reporters who might jump the gun. i don't think john has to do that. he probably did have a lot of information and he's a boston guy. he probably had a lot of inside

information and someone turned around and said this isn't meant to be public yet and cnn had to walk it back. >> john: i want to shift gears and go to genuine outrage. the idea of extending background checks is supported by 90% of americans including a vast majority of nra members and it still didn't pass in the senate yesterday. is there any hope of strengthening gun control in this country in any way? i'll go to the comedienne for this. >> i don't think there is any hope for strengthening gun control in this country. i think it will be to the point where the answer to everything is well, you should have a gun then. i'm sorry. everything is going to be everyone should have a gun. >> john: i agree. i feel like i'm going to get one where before the segment is over. rick, what do you think? what does it say about the state of our democracy when the president and close to 100% of the citizens want something and can't get it done? this was more popular than christmas. it still can't happen. >> you know, it is important we keep in mind the real villain here and the real villain here is a dysfunctional senate that

operates where you now have to have 60 votes to pass anything. it was not the way it was intended. i love how these strict constitutionalists who are for gun rights are looking for the constitution. where does it say anything but majority wins in the united states senate? it is a perversion. it is outrageous. it gives the small, red states unbelievable power. their vote count a lot more in the gun issue. >> sorry to jump in. it is not even 60 to pass. it is 60 to get it -- >> john: harry reid gets the credit for this. this was not a back on background checks. this was a vote to have a vote on background checks. harry reid promised us he would reform the filibuster. he didn't do it. >> he gets credit for not doing it. >> john: still by voting nay yesterday, because he wants to be able to bring it up under the rules, he still gets to keep his high nra rating. jacki, did i think too hard on harry reid? >> he played trust me with mitch

mcconnell? how many times do we play trust me with republicans to finally learn a lesson? it is happening with the president over and over again and now with senate democrats. stop trying to make them your friends. >> john: how stupid do we look to the rest of the world? >> we won't make any progress with yeas and nays. we sound like we're from the 1800s. start with yes or no. >> john: speak for yourself. they're coming back. >> i feel like people must be so terrified to come here. they must think you get off a plane and someone puts a gun to your head. that's what it looks like around the world. it is mcdonald's and guns. >> john: you get off the plane and someone screams. >> are you afraid to live in this country because of guns. i thought what a silly thing when i was in spain and i came back and gabby giffords got shot in the head. >> article in the newspaper in tokyo, japanese kids do not want to come to school here anymore because they're afraid. >> john: fortunately, we're

filming the show in new york city where millions of men walk around without ar-15 because they're completely content with their penis size. what's the next step for people who care about this? >> this is the problem. the president made a great speech yesterday. he said it is not over but we all know it is over. >> 20 murdered first yards and we can't get gun legislation up for discussion. >> john: the next time someone gets killed a gun that didn't have a background check, you know who owns it. my panel will stay with me after the break when we talk about what else should require a background check.

>> john: one last quick question. what is one thing in our society that doesn't require a background check but should. jen kirkman? >> becoming a parent. >> john: i'll say. you haven't done it yet, have you? >> not yet not ever. >> good thing you don't have to get checked for that. i know what my republican friends would say the president. >> john: very true. jacki schechner? >> dating me. save everybody a lot of trouble. >> john: i'm going with jen on the license to breed. what a thrill watching 45 senators beat 55 senators as that's the first time a lot of republicans have ever rooted for a minority to win anything. but today the guardian reports that 42 of those 45 senators who voted against even having a vote on background checks have actually taken money from the gun industry. i would call them whore serks but that's rather insulting to actual whores. the risk with nra-owned politicians is catching a bullet. here's the thing. the only way background checks

take away your second amendment rights are my friends if you're a criminal, a terrorist or insane. if you're all three you're probably already a lobbyist for the nra. now, right now somewhere in this country a very angry gun addict is furiously posting about how background checks might gather his private info and he's posting about it on facebook which gathers his private info. think about this. you want a job? you gotta pass a background check? you want a small business loan? pass a background check. you need them for credit cards home loans, you need a license for fishing you need to register your car notify the authorities when you sell your car but there's still a very loud and verbally abusive twitter few who believe that 90% of americans wanting to keep a violent schizophrenic ex-felon who hates america from buying tons of weapons at a gun show with no background check is somehow redefining their constitutional rights. guess what, scooter if you think congress hasn't constantly been redefining your

constitutional rights, i've got a whites only drinking fountain to sell you. the 90% of americans who lost this week are trying to establish justice ensure domestic tranquility promote the welfare and secure the blessings of liberty and posterity. there, the constitutionalists. you are just some guy who think "red dawn "requests was a documentary. this will only make the nra weaker in the long run. supporting background checks gave them a chance to appear reasonable like wayne lapierrre did back in the late '90s when he supported background checks but that was back when the nra had a tenuous tether to being an organization for gun safety that actually repped gun owners. now, they just rep the money guys. but not letting terrorists and. >> announcer: and deranged people easily buy weapons at gun shows hurts the profits of gun manufacturers. that's all the nra leadership cares about. i respect that shooting stuff on weekends is fun but you know what else is fun? being part of helping kids not

get shot. of course, if the criminals can't go on and easily buy guns on the open market, gun junkies can't justify their need for all of those arsenals. so keep this in mind. some of the right wing guys opposed to background checks are the same ones who want to deny minorities seniors and college kids the right to vote if they don't pass an i.d. background check. and i can understand that logic on behalf the gun junkies because guns only kill team but letting people vote can lead to something more evil. the american population regulating guns. that's "viewpoint" for tonight. i want to thank my panel jen kirkman, where are you appearing? >> this weekend at the arlington draft house in washington, d.c. >> john: the name of your book? "i can barely take care of myself." >> john: you owned it. the great rick ungar from forbes.com. >> i will be at my apartment on the upper west side. follow me at forbes.com. >> john: and jacki schechner making a rare east coast